Tacony Corporation Enters Its 70th Year Under a New Generation of Leadership

CEO Ken Tacony and his daughter, Executive Vice President Kristi Humes, both transition into new roles, as the company celebrates a hallmark year.

Nov. 30, 2015 – St. Louis, MO – The new year always brings with it the promise of new possibilities. For Tacony Corporation, the upcoming year means a number of significant, exciting changes. As the St. Louis-based company celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2016, it also transitions into a new era of leadership.

Effective Jan. 1, Ken Tacony will step aside as Chief Executive Officer as his daughter, Executive Vice President Kristi Humes, takes the helm. Tacony will scale back day-to-day duties and transition to Executive Chairman of Tacony Corporation. At the same time, Vice President of Marketing-Sewing Division, Craig Meyer, will take on leadership of Tacony Corporation marketing as Senior Vice President of Marketing. Bill Hinderer will continue as President and Chief Operating Officer.

“I am truly blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to carry on my grandfather’s and my father’s entrepreneurial spirit,” Humes said. “I’m equally fortunate that my dad has the confidence that I am capable of carrying on what he continued to build from his father’s dream.”

Founded in 1946 by Nick Tacony, Tacony Corporation is a privately held manufacturing and distribution company operating in four strategic business units: sewing, home floor care, commercial floor care, and ceiling fans. Among the company’s most successful brands are sewing industry leader Baby Lock; home floor care brands Simplicity, Riccar and Maytag; commercial floor care brands such as Powr-Flite, Tornado and Truvox; and Regency ceiling fans. After Nick Tacony’s passing in 1984, Ken Tacony took over leadership of the business, growing it from $3 million in sales to more than $220 million in 2014. To date, the company employs more than 650 associates in 13 offices around the world.

Humes has 22 years’ experience in the family business, and had served various roles in the company before being named Executive Vice President in 2011. Meyer, a longtime employee of the company, brings decades of business and marketing experience to the position. He will continue Humes’ work in building and strengthening Tacony Corporation’s marketing strategies, focusing on distribution and independent retail businesses in the sewing, home floor care, commercial floor care and ceiling fan industries.

Tacony, 72, will transition into a new position as Executive Chairman, a role that will allow him to spend less time addressing day-to-day company business and more time with family and personal pursuits.

“It’s a role that allows me to still be involved from a consulting perspective rather than a managerial perspective,” Tacony said. “My wife told me that I could never retire, and this change in my role isn’t my retirement but the recognition of Kristi to begin taking a greater leadership role.”

As CEO, Humes plans to continue her father’s moral and ethical business practices, dedication to customer service, and investment in the company’s future and its associates. “We will continue as entrepreneurs, embrace new opportunities to do so in a way that Ken will be proud of,” she said. “And most of all, we will always take care of our customers in ways that are both fair to them and to us, and treat them like family.”

Ken Tacony will serve in a consultant role, providing support at the corporate headquarters during the transition and beyond. When he’s not performing duties at Tacony Corporation, he’ll spend more time in the Florida sun and spoiling grandchildren.

“You don’t always know when it’s the right time to make that change. It’s more of a feeling,” Ken Tacony said. “Sometimes it’s just the realization of what you want the balance of your life to be, to spend more time enjoying the fruits of your labor and setting the stage for the next generation.”

In addition to making leadership changes in 2016, Tacony Corporation will celebrate 70 years in business. The company will mark the occasion with a year of special events and promotions (to be announced) throughout the year.

To learn more about Tacony Corporation, visit the company website, Tacony.com.

About Tacony Corporation:

Founded in 1946 by Nick Tacony, Tacony Corporation is a privately held manufacturing and distribution company operating in four strategic business units: sewing, home floor care, commercial floor care, and ceiling fans. With more than 650 associates in 13 offices around the world, Tacony’s mission is to create long-lasting relationships that are based on trust and feel like family. For more information, visit www.tacony.com.